This is the second painting that I have done from the photos I took on my recent trip to Arizona. I love the way the cactus look against the red rocks. This painting, “Prickly Pear”, is an oil on canvas panel measuring 10″x8″ and is available for $195. kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com

Woke up to the first really cool morning of the season. I like it. I like cooler weather. I like snow. I know. Most folks don’t, but I grew up where it was HOT all the time and I much prefer the seasons.

Cool weather brings fog in the mountains. So I am posting this painting that I did a month or so ago of “Fog in the Valley”. It is an oil on canvas panel, 11×14, available for $225. kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com

So it’s Sunday and we are on our way home from this big “aviator” weekend of the Air Races in Reno and we have to make a quick stop in Amarillo for a company picnic with our hosts, the Smiths. We land at the Amarillo airport and look out the window and what do we see???? The space shuttle!!!

Absolutely amazing. Keep in mind that I am with a group of pilots…all weekend they have gone to the airshow each day and drooled over airplanes and airplane equipment and now, here we are in the heart of Texas and what do we see? The ultimate in aviation…the space shuttle.

I took Allen’s picture with it because I figured no one would believe we had seen it.

So, of course, we delayed our trip out to the picnic for about 10 minutes so we could watch the shuttle take off, piggybacking on this HUGE airplane. There were a few others around taking pictures but overall I guess it is something that NASA doesn’t advertise for safety reasons. So we watched it take off. I even got a minute long video of it. (Sorry I can’t post it here for you to see. 😦 )

When we left Reno we flew around Area 51, flew right over Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon and then we land and to see the Space Shuttle, all within a two hour period of time. Can you imagine????

I tell you, the Smith’s are quite the hosts. When they plan a trip, they really plan a trip!!!! Thanks again for all the fun.

This past weekend Allen and I were invited by friends to go to Reno to the Air Races. While that may not have been the most thrilling thing for me to see, the guys loved it as they are all pilots.

The aviation excitement started when we flew on a private jet into Reno. Less than 5 hours from Winchester airport to Reno. You talk about spoiling us for commercial travel. Who would ever want to fly commercial again???

Air Races are exactly what they sound like. Old airplanes and new race around a “track” in the sky. Here is an old WWII trainer. There were about 6 or 7 of these in the race…all in perfect condition. Amazing!

And another example of the trainer….

And this is how it looks as they race by the bleachers.

There were also demonstrations of different types of jets.

By far, the most exciting display and the one that most people came to see was the Blue Angels. They travel with a large support plane. I’m sure that the guys could tell you the exact name for each of these but I can’t.

It was pretty amazing to see the maneuverability of that large plane as it did its show.

As the team was getting ready to go up they introduced each of the pilots. Imagine our surprise when they introduced this one as a naval pilot from Warrenton, Virginia!

Yeah!

They flew in tight formation and did several passes where they were only 18 inches apart from wing to wing. Can you imagine how much you would have to trust the people you work with to actually do that?

Some of the passes they even flew with one plane upright and one upside down….and so close together!

What a show!!!

The guys went to the show three days in a row. I only went once and opted to go to the Nevada Museum of Art to a show about California Plein Air painters from the 1920- 40’s. It was amazing as well.

Overall, it was a terrific trip…especially for the pilots that were with us. I know Allen enjoyed it immensely. On the trip home, we stopped in Amarillo, Texas for a company picnic with our hosts. And when we landed at the airport there we got another big surprise. I’ll fill you in on that tomorrow. 🙂